School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemBeyond the pale of the law : refugees and the myth of human rights(University of Melbourne, 2010)
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ItemDeveloping a treatment strategy for screenprints: investigating the larry rawling print workshop( 2017)Screenprints are frequently identified as problematic in conservation, particularly during aqueous treatment. As evidenced by both a literature review and conservator questionnaire, interventive treatments of this kind are usually avoided, as the introduction of moisture may cause the media to crack, or the primary support to cockle. With these difficulties in mind, this study generates preliminary insight into suitable conservation treatment approaches for screenprints produced by Melbourne-based master printmaker Larry Rawling. Over a 50-year period, the Larry Rawling Print Workshop has produced nearly 600 limited-edition fine art prints in partnership with a range of prominent Australian artists, including Charles Blackman, Juan Davila and Alun Leach-Jones. This study positions Rawling as a key informant for his role as master printmaker, through semistructured interviews. As an artist advisor and expert craftsman, he is uniquely able to provide insight into the artist-printmaker partnerships formed in his workshop, as well as technical information on the materials, techniques and processes embodied in his screenprints. Elements of this data-set are corroborated by a secondary data-set, generated via a more conventional conservation investigation of three prints donated to the study: Mike Green's Palace Chair, Ron Harbeck's Mile Mark Ricketts Point, and Harbeck's diptych Reflections & Woodford Bay. This conservation investigation, which involves technical examination, documentation and experimental testing, produces useful information on both the identification of the donated screenprints, and their unique responses to aqueous treatment. The outcomes of this project carry wider implications for the conservation treatment of screenprints in general, and provide a framework for further consultation with master printmakers.
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ItemThe theory of volunteerism within the cultural heritage and arts sector for cultural materials conservation( 2017)The theory and practice of volunteerism is investigated for cultural materials conservation as a demonstration of the importance it has in the interest of preserving cultural heritage throughout the world. A postgraduate student from the University of Melbourne's Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (GCCMC) seeks to address current conservation issues at Dow's Pharmacy, a historic property managed by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) located in regional Victoria. This is a proposal for the continuation of the voluntary work currently underway from 2015 and shows the significance of regional museums as representative of history. Furthermore, community engagement is now regarded as an essential role within conservation. Through the implementation of volunteerism within the cultural heritage and arts sector, both forms of civic participation reveal the many interpretations 'significance' has within diverse communities. In understanding and respecting this, the necessity for building stronger cross-cultural professional relationships is revealed, and the mutual learning with which it generates for the preservation of cultural heritage.
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ItemIdentification of paper fibres in The University of Melbourne's Middle Eastern manuscript collection( 2017)Many Middle Eastern manuscripts residing in non-Middle Eastern collections have been divorced from their original cultural and geographical context. This loss of provenance, combined with translation difficulties, has resulted in manuscripts being unable to fulfil their roles as conduits of knowledge. This thesis investigates whether fibre identification may assist in determining a manuscript's manufacturing techniques, in addition to the time and place of its production. Fibre identification techniques including visual analysis, Graff 'C' stain, polarised and dark field illumination microscopy, SEM, ESEM and ESEM-EDS are employed to investigate the fibre composition of twelve manuscript samples from the University of Melbourne's Middle Eastern manuscript collection. Results are considered within a multifaceted investigative pathway, and analysed to determine whether sufficient data is generated to determine provenance or manufacturing information.
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ItemSalute to the King, Merrymaking': making sense of a mystery image - connoisseurship, art history and cultural biography in cultural materials conservation research( 2017)This minor thesis employs the various methods of technical art history, connoisseurship and art history to formulate the basis of the object biography for Salute to the King, Merrymaking. A detailed examination of the iconography of Salute to the King, Merrymaking has resulted in the identification of the subject matter and themes of the work. Following this, the contention is made that conservators are an appropriate professional to write biographical histories of objects, as a result of the interdisciplinary skills required by the profession, that allow for a comphrensive understanding of condition 'clues', and thus analysis of an artwork in all the stages of its 'life'; from the time of manufacture to the present day. Further to this, this thesis explores how conservators, through their investigations of objects and study of material culture, can contribute to the completion of the cultural histories of emotional communities, illuminating the reception and changes of these communities over time.
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ItemLights, camera, conservation: examining representations of cultural materials conservation in mainstream and conservation media( 2017)This research investigates the representation of cultural materials conservation in both mainstream entertainment media and new media produced by cultural institutions through the lens of cultivation theory via content analysis. By comparing trends across texts from these media sources, it is determined that neither may currently be wholly effective in increasing conservation's public profile due to issues stemming from their content and audience reach. It is therefore suggested that it may be necessary to combine aspects of mainstream and conservation media forms to successfully increase the profession's public profile.
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ItemTime-based media preservation: risk analysis and recoverability in the ACMI Collection( 2017)The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) acquired 38 time-based media art works between 1998-2016. These artworks are complex, unique systems, often at high risk of software and hardware obsolescence; therefore they demand documentation as part of a preventive conservation approach. Many of these artworks have not been condition checked since acquisition and documentation disassociation has occurred in ACMI's collection database management system Vernon due to minimal and inconsistent procedures prior 2011. This research project examines the specific risks posed to the 3 categorised units of time-based media: software-based, single or multi-channel as well and software-based works with sculptural dependencies. A conservation assessment methodology was adapted together with a risk assessment framework to conduct an investigation of 3 individual art works. Research was conducted on each piece to articulate constituting parts, condition and significance. Interviews with the artists were sought to explore preservation and the limits of acceptable change for the works. A discussion of the risks, limitations and outcomes of the project are realised in the discussion and conclusion.
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ItemCluster sample survey of the Freemasons Victoria collection: informing the future( 2017)Collection surveys and risk assessments are two key elements of preventive conservation and when the two procedures are integrated, they can provide data on the current state of an object and predict potential risks. This thesis investigates the object collections of the Freemasons Victoria. The temporary storage and display of these objects within a nursing home has placed these items potentially, at risk, particularly in regard to the environmental conditions and deteriorated state prior to storage. The basis of this thesis is the statistical cluster sample survey of the objects in the collection and the results, in report format, that will inform Freemasons Victoria on the future treatment percentages required for these objects and assist with the planning for the new building and sustainability of the collection moving forward.
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ItemAn examination of the materials and techniques associated with the external cast iron columns of the National Trust property of Labassa, Caulfield North( 2017)Labassa in Caulfield North, Melbourne, is a heritage place of historical, aesthetic and architectural significance to the State of Victoria. At the request of the National Trust, this thesis aims to analyse and potentially identify the materials utilised to create the cast iron columns on the external southern and eastern sides of Labassa, in order to determine whether or not the columns possessed a marbled surface finish at their time of installation. Through a material and historical analysis of the materials and techniques associated with these columns and their manufacture, an appropriate treatment plan to improve the condition of the columns in their current state is outlined for the National Trust.
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ItemCirculating confidence: why the blockchain is flawed and why we should introduce it to combat art fraud anyway( 2016)This thesis assesses whether blockchain technology has the potential to assist in the prevention of art fraud and the improvement of provenance trails. It explores the use of permissionless and permissioned blockchains within various sectors, as well as their application in both bitcoin-esque and more governed models to the art sector. This is done with the aim of ascertaining whether such applications exceed measures already in place to combat art fraud and improve provenance. The assessment of blockchain's potential in the art world will take into account unique concerns and requirements of the cultural framework within which the technology is being posited. The central tenet of this paper is that the value of an art-market blockchain extends to the broad concerns that the technology was originally designed to solve, including trust, censorship, fraud, and security, among others. These concerns will be analysed within a blockchain/art-trade framework; the key argument being that the prevention of art fraud and the consequent preservation of culture will benefit from the adoption of blockchain, notwithstanding that the technology may be more limited than commonly understood as a result of media hype. This thesis therefore disrupts the current inconsistent orthodoxy that blockchain is either a technological marvel or that it offers little in the way of iterative and novel features. It proposes the need for a broader understanding of the value of the technology - one that incorporates blockchain as a sophisticated marketing term capable of reducing often impenetrable concepts to something easily communicated and understood. I accordingly examine the epistemological role and moral implications of a potential blockchain deployment within the trade of art.